Sheet metal panel type ceiling construction



Oct. 10, 1961 A. c. WALLER EIAL SHEET METAL PANEL TYPE CEILING CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 16, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 LIGHTING FIXTURE PANEL CEILING WALL PANEL INVERTED T PANEL SUPPORT FIG.7

INVENTORS ROBERT A. GOELLIR ALLEN QWALLER BY ATTIC FIG.8

Oct. 10, 1961 A. c. WALLER ETAL ,00

SHEET METAL PANEL TYPE CEILING CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 16, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3

PLATE COVER TUBE RECEIVING INVENTQRS FIG.5 REGEPTAOLE ROBERT A. GOELLER ALLEN C. WALLER ATTX United States Patent 7 Ce SHEET METAL PANEL TYPE CEILING CONSTRUCTION Allen C. Waller, New York, and Robert A. 'Goeller,

Mamaroneck, N.Y., assignors to Reynolds Metals Company, Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 16, 1957, Ser. No. 702,956 8 Claims. (Cl. 240--9) This invention relates to ceiling constructions of the sheet metal panel type and more particularly to those containing acoustical panels and recessed lighting fixtures.

At the present time there is. usually no coordination between the designs of acoustical ceilings and of recessed lighting fixtures or units for such ceilings. Each is designed by its own manufacturer to meet the manufacturing, shipping, handling, architectural and economic conditions which are personal to that particular manufacturer. .Due to this lack of coordination, many field conditions arise that are costly to overcome. For example, the process of integrating a recessed lighting unit of one design into an acoustical ceiling structure of an independent designer, usually is a slow and laborious one requiring many painstaking measurements. As a rule, there is a jointing problem which arises from the fact that the module of the lighting fixture seldom matches that of the varied acoustical panel units. This often creates poor circumferential and horizontal jointing and alignment, where the edge of the recessed'fixture meets with the acoustical ceiling, leaving unsightly gaps which ar difiicult and expensive to remedy.

Under present practice, a given ceiling installation may be purchased months before the type and number of recessed lighting units are determined. Ultimately, in erecting it, it is necessary for the erector first to have one building trade install the basic ceiling structure including the means of support and to provide, in. said structure, framed-in openings for the installation of individual or continuous rows of recessed fixtures. Often this must be done without accurate information as to the structural details of the fixtures. Thereafter, the electrical trade operates to install the fixtures by mounting the arched bridges, which span the openings and are fastened to the framing at points opposite each. other, and then hanging the recessed fixtures therefrom/ The arched bridges, usually, are furnished by the fixture manufacturer who, more often than not, is without accurate information as to the structural details of the framing. Coordination failures of this character often lead to difiiculties not'only in the original installation but also in subsequent modifications. Thus if one or more lighting fixtures are to be relocated, it is necessary to frame-in new openings and to fill in the gaps left by the fixtures that have been removed.

The principal objects of this invention are: to over come the foregoing objections and more particularly to avoid the slow, laborious, painstaking and often frustrating work heretoforerequired in hanging lighting fixtures and in correlating the elevation of the ceiling panels with that of the fixtures; and to provide an even, level and sightly ceiling which may be easily and quickly installed.

Other important objects are: to provide a ceiling construction in which the panels and fixtures can be easily and quicklyinstalled and easily and quickly rearranged or relocated Without rehanging the entire ceiling or any substantial part of it; and to provide a lighting fixture which can be originally located as desired and subsequently moved without requiring the removal or the replacement or rearrangement of more than one or two ceiling panels at the most.

p 3,004,141 Patented Oct. 10, 1961 2 These and other objects are accomplished simply by providing a multiplicity of interchangeable ceiling panels and a desired number of lighting fixtures in the form of panels whieh not only are interchangeable with the different times. Obviously, since the regular panel sup ports determine the elevation for both the lighting fixture panels and the regular ceiling panels, the work may proceed rapidly because the only precision work require-d is that involved in initially hanging the panel supports at the desired elevation. Once thesesupports are in place, it is an easy matter to install the regular ceiling panels first or the lighting fixture panels first or both at the same time. Furthermore, since all such panels are interchangeable, it now becomes a relatively easy matterto relocate a lighting fixture panel.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein: p

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the paneled ceiling construction with portions of the supporting rails cut awa IFIG. 2 is a section taken on lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section taken on lines 3-3 of FIG. 2 with portions cut away and broken in the middle;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of one end of the lighting fixture panel used in the ceiling construction;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a fluorescent light bracket used in the novel lighting fixture panel.

FIG. 6 is a perspectiveview of an end plate of the lighting fixture panel;

FIG. 7 is a section taken on lines 7-7 of FIG. 3; PEG. 8 is a section similar to FIG. 2 of a modified lighting panel having its wiring raceway attached to the side of the lighting trough; and FIG. 9 is a section of a parabolic lighting trough. The illustrated embodiment comprises: a pair of ceiling panel supports; means supporting them in horizontally spaced relationship at ceiling height; and a plurality of interchangeable sheet metal ceiling panels having front and back faces and being arranged in succession to form a row which extends lengthwisealong, and widthwise between, said supports with the ends of the panel supported on said supports, at least one panel having an indented, usually downwardly open, reflector cavity in its front face and means carried by the cavitied panel in position to support a source of illumination within said reflector cavity.

A ceiling construction of the type here involved usually contains one ormore paralleland adjoining rows 1 of ceiling panels made of sheet metal such as aluminum. Looking at FIG. 1, each row extends widthwise between and is supported on a pair of spaced, parallel inverted T-shaped rails 2 which may be suspended from the structural members of a building by any of several conventional methods. FIG. 1 illustrates the inverted T-rails 2 as being suspended by hanger wires 3 which depend from conventional trusses 4 of a building.

One end of the ceiling panels of row 1 rests upon one bottom flange of one inverted T-rail 2 while the other end of the same panel rests. upon one bottom flange of the other inverted T-nail. The three ceiling panels shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are representative of the panels contained in a row 1 of panels and compromise, from left to right, a plain panel 5, a lighting fixture panel 6 and a second plain panel 5'. Each panel 5, 6 and 5 is of the same length and width so as to be interchangeable with each other. Each end is freely slidable on its adjacent supporting T-rails 2. Each panel also has interengaging,

preferably interlocking flanges along its longitudinal or side edges. These interlocking flanges include an inverted J-shaped flange 7 on the lefthand longitudinal edge of each panel, looking at FIG. 2, and an inverted L-shaped flange 8 on the right-hand longitudinal edge. FIG. 2 shows the panel 5, 6 and interlocked together by the J-shaped flanges 7 hooked over the adjacent L- shaped flanges 8. Representative dimensions for the ceiling panels 5, 6 and 5' are 8 feet long and 1 foot wide but this may, of course, vary.

Each plain panel 5 or 5' is also provided with an upstanding closed corrugation or pleat 9 extending along its longitudinal center for added rigidity and strength. It may have a plurality of such pleats or of other pleats, such as sinuous pleats or open corrugations. Preferably, it is riddled with many small and uniformly spaced holes so that it will cooperate, when installed, with a sound absorbing media arranged in (or on its upper side) to form a sound absorbing ceiling.

The lighting fixture panel 6 is provided with one elongate indentation or with several indentations to receive lamps. Preferably, it is provided with a relatively large upstanding corrugation forming a downwardly open in verted reflector trough in extending along itslongitudinal center from one of its ends to the other. It is also riddled with many small holes for acoustical purposes. The reflector trough 10 may contain one or more fluorescent tubes for illumination purposes. Accordingly, a fluorescent tube supporting structure is provided for holding a single fluorescent tube 11, as indicated in FIG. 2, in solid lines. An alternate arrangement involving the use of a pair of tubes is indicated in dotted lines. The top of panel 16 is notched at each end of the inverted trough 10 to provide an opening 12 for receiving a fluoroscent tube mounting socket 14 such as is shown in FIG. 5. The inside of the reflector trough it) may be provided with a light reflecting finish, such as that of natural aluminum, or it may be finished in a color to blend with the remainder of the ceiling and may also be riddled with acoustical holes, the same as the other surfaces of the panel 6.

A wiring raceway channel 15 is attached to the top of the panel 6 along the outer surface of the top of the trough it by several rivets 16 extending through the top of the trough 1t) and the web or bottom of the raceway 15. The raceway channel 15 opens upwardly and its sides or legs terminate in outwardly flaring lips 17. The raceway 15 is notched at each end of its bottom to provide openings 18, which correspond with the openings or notches 12 in the panel 6. The longitudinal edges of the openings or notches 18 are bent upwardly to provide a support for the upper enlarged end of a fluoroscent tubereceiving receptacle 14.

The receptacle 14 is mounted in the end of the raceway 15 by resting its upper enlarged end on the upwardly bent edges of the notch 13 and by passing a screw upwardly through the panel 6 and the raceway 15 and securing it by a nut to the bifurcated mounting portions 21 of the receptacle 14. In this position, the tube mouning portion of the recepable 14 projects downwardly through the notches 18 and 12 in the raceway 15 and the panel 6 to place its socket in position to hold one end of the fluorescent tube it in the trough 10. A companion receptacle is attached in an identical manner at the opposite end of the panel 6.

The top or mouth of the raceway 15 is closed by an intermediate cover plate 19 which extends over the major portion of the raceway but terminates short of the ends of the raceway. It is spot welded or otherwise firmly secured to the lips 17 of the raceway. The extreme ends of the mouth of the raceway 15 are closed by removable covers 29 attached by screws to the lips 17.

The opposite ends of both trough 1t and raceway 15 are closed by end plates 23. Each end plate 23, as shown in FIG, 6, includes a lower trough-closing portion having downwardly diverging side edges carrying laterally bent flaps 24 which are ultimately spot welded to the upper surfaces of the sides of the trough 10 for securing the end plate 23 to the panel 6. In addition, the end plate 23 includes an upper raceway-closing portion terminating along its upper edge in a laterally bent flange 25 which fits over and is spot welded to the ends of the lips 17. The end of the removable cover 2% is provided with a tongue 26 which fits under and is held in place by the flange 25. Each end plate 2 3 has an outwardly bent hook 27 adapted to slip downwardly over and rest on the upper edge of the stem of the T-rails 2 The hook 27 keeps the T-rails from moving away from the ends of the panel 6 and adds in transferring some of the weight of the panel 6 to the T-rails 2.

The wiring raceway 15 includes several knockout plugs 28 positioned at appropriate places for receiving an electrical cable 29 connected to the sockets 14 and the wiring in the raceway, and the cable 29 is shown as having a detachable plug connector at its free end inserted into the conventional receptacle box 30 which is mounted on truss 4. The receptacle box 39 is attached by the usual wires to a conventional power line. Of course, the detachable electrical connection illustrated can be replaced with a conventional permanent connection to the receptacle box 30.

Once the panels 5 and 6 are installed, the lighting fixture panel 6 may be readily moved to a new location by replacing a plain panel 5 with it and moving its wiring. All of this can be done without disturbing most of the remaining panels, thus making it relatively inexpensive to reposition the lighting fixtures.

The raceway 15 of the lighting panel 6 may be mounted on the inclined sides of the trough as illustrated in FIG. 8. For example, it may be necessary to reduce the height of the lighting panel 6 to allow the ceiling to be installed closer to the overhead structure of a building. The mounting of the raceway on the trough sides may also be useful when two or more fluorescent tubes are mounted side-by-side in the same trough.

It will be appreciated that our combination acoustical and lighting ceiling panel has the same length and width as a standard plain panel and is joined to adjacent panels and supported from the building in the same way. In other words, it is completely interchangeable therewith. Also it presents the same installation problem, being installed at the same time and in the same way. This not only facilitates its installation and its change from one location to another but also completely eliminates the production of unsightly gaps which heretofore were commonly produced between standard panels and adjacent recessed lighting fixtures and were expensive to overcome.

Referring to FIG. 9, a modified light panel 6' is shown having a parabolic lighting trough lit and a fluorescent tube 11 located at the focus point 32 of the parabolic section. The advantage of this arrangement is that a maximum amount of the light from the fluorescent tube '11 is directed outwardly from the trough 10 in the same direction. This is because the parabolic surface of the trough 1t) reflects the light from the tube 11' in one direction, parallel to the axis of the parabola. FIG. 9 illustrates the parabolic trough 10" reflecting light from the tube 11 downwardly, to the horizontal.

Having described our invention, we claim:

1. A ceiling construction of the panel type, comprising: a pair of elongate ceiling-panel supports; means supporting them in laterally spaced parallel relationship along the level of the proposed ceiling; a plurality of elongate acoustical sheet metal ceiling panels having front and back faces and being of equal widths and of relatively longer but equal lengths so as to be completely interchangeable onewith another; said panels being arranged successively in side-by-side relationship to form a row extendingalong said supports with each panel extending lengthwise from one support to the other and having its ends resting on said supports, the adjacent side edges of adjacent panels being in interlocking engagement with each other; at least one of said plurality of panels being an elongated trough-type lighting fixture panel with an upwardly-deep horizontally-elongate downwardly-open light-reflecting acoustical trough in its front face and with means .to support a source of illumination within said trough; and the others of said plurality of panels being vertically shallow and having the major portion of their respective front face areas relatively flat and facing downwardly.

2. The ceiling of claim 1 wherein: said panels are perforated over their faces, including the interior surfaces of said reflector trough, for sound absorbing purposes.

3. The ceiling of claim 1 wherein: said panels are slidably mounted on said supports.

4. The ceiling of claim 1 wherein: said lighting fixture panel carries an elongate electrical wiring raceway on its back face.

5. The ceiling of claim 4 wherein: said support means for said illumination source includes a pair of fluorescent tube-receiving receptacles, one mounted at each end of said raceway to project into said trough.

6. The ceiling of claim 5 including: end plates on opposite ends of said lighting fixture panel to cover the ends of said trough and said raceway.

7. The ceiling of claim 4 wherein: said elongate inverted trough includes side walls converging upwardly to the top of said trough; and said raceway is fixed on the back of one of said side walls below the top of said trough.

8. A ceiling construction of the panel type, comprising: a pair of elongate rails supported in spaced parallel relationship along the level of the ceiling and having opposing panel supporting flanges extending inwardly toward each other; a row of interchangeable sheet metal ceiling panels extending lengthwise along said rails and bridging them with the side edges of said row slidably resting on said flanges; said panels being elongated and extending lengthwise between said rails; each of said panels having a front face presenting a downwardly facing ceiling surface over at least a portion of said front face; at least one of said panels being a lighting fixture panel having a reflector cavity in its front face and means for supporting a source of illumination within said cavity; said rails ineluding second flanges extending upwardly from said panel supporting flanges; said panel reflector cavity being in the form of an elongate trough extending longitudinally between the panel ends; said lighting fixture panel having end plates closing said trough; and said end plates including fingers extending downwardly over said second flanges to keep said rails from moving farther apart.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,218,992 Munroe Oct. 22, 1940 2,306,597 Darley Dec. 29, 1942 2,306,685 Chambers Dec. 29, 1942 2,630,521 Kirlin Mar. 3, 1953 2,659,807 Wakefield Nov. 17, 1953 2,710,336 Jorn June 7, 1955 2,734,127 Naysmith Feb. 7, 1956 2,831,962 .Winkler et al. Apr. 22, 1958 2,845,854 Kurek Aug. 5, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 949,464

France Feb. 21, 1949 

